Points of Power
by Thomas Goodwin
Summary: In the aftermath of a battle with Hallows, Rukia comes face to face with a new power in Karakura town. The question is, are they friend or foe?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer

Bleach is the property of Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump. This is mearly a fan work, meant to entertain others.

While Bleach may take place in Japan, the fact of the matter is that this is an English work. As such, I shall use the translations used by Viz Media in order to be consistent, instead of trying to sound like I want to be Japanese.

Reviews would be appreciated.

Chapter 1: A Restless Night

Things had been quiet.

That was a good thing as far as the Rukia was concerned. No hollows to fight meant that she, Ichigo, her fellow soul reapers and all the other spiritually aware people in Karakura Town were able to relax and focus on things other then the survival and protection of spirits and living humans in the area.

Yet the fact that it had been quiet was the very thing that made her on edge. She couldn't sleep. She couldn't focus on her schoolwork any more then usual. Those around her notice that she was usually fiddling with something in her pocket. They would be right, of course. Rukia expected, at any moment, for her Soul Page to go off.

After another hour of laying in the dark, cramped closet she sighed and tried to close her eyes. Activity was just unusually low, it wasn't as if this didn't occasionally happen. Hollows only had a finite population, and were only stirred to depart from their world when something truly earth shattering was happening in their minds. That tended to range from orders to the prospect of a delicious human soul.

Rukia sighed. She tried to close her eyes, but they wouldn't quite make it all the way. Sleep was restless, only providing a means to pass the time. After about another hour, she looked down at her soul page and found it to be three o'clock in the morning. She decided that she might as start the day, carefully taking off her borrowed pajamas and putting on her dubiously acquired school uniform.

Ichigo was sleeping quite peacefully for most of the night, actually being able to catch some rest. But the fact of the matter was that it was about six o'clock, which meant that Ichigo began to stir. At six thirty, he was somewhat cognizant, able to think about things a bit more clearly then dream them. He wouldn't get up, though. That would be a victory for his father, and Ichigo did not want the eccentric to have an excuse to attack him even earlier in the morning.

Ichigo couldn't help but to thing about how peaceful things have been. The lull in hollow activity meant that he could focus on things that he actually wanted or needed to do in the real world. Such as studying and preparing for college. While not fun, he did not intend on becoming an academic loser. He could finally get the sleep he needed, instead of having to spend every night going out in search of a soul that needed to pass on or a hollow that needed to be taken care of.

He would hang out with his friends occasionally. Dispite how annoying Keigo could be, or how much of a perverted playboy Mizurio was, their friendship did mean a great deal to him. He still like Chad and Orohime all right, and he could even count of Uryu to be a friend despite how much the two may mutual loathe one another. However, those three were spiritually aware. He could share his problems with them, but he did need a break from talks about hollows and soul society.

Besides, he could usually count on Rukia to be on her best behavior when they was out in public. The diminutive little soul reaper could act like a spoiled brat when they were alone with each other, beating him for some offense or another. He normally didn't mind, as he would much rather take a kick in the shins to a lecture. Unfortunately, Rukia would somehow find a way to combine the two, which tended to be rather unpleasant experience.

His thoughts were interrupted when the alarm clock rang out. He waited for about three seconds, before hearing those three words that he dreaded so much in the morning.

"GOOODDD MOOOORNINGGGGGGG, IIIIICHIIIIGOOOOO!"

His father came in with one of his standard attacks, a drop kick to the chest. Ichigo rolled to the side, his martial arts training taking over as he kicked his father's legs from under him, sending the elder Kurosaki crashing to the ground. "What's wrong with you, you demented freak?!" Ichigo yelled out.

"You are still as good as ever, son!" Isshin Kurosaki yelled back. "I gotta make sure that somebody keep you on your toes! How else can your dear, adorable sisters expect for someone to go and protect them when Daddy's busy at work?" tears began to run down his face as he then brought forth his worst nightmare, his two cute daughters being accosted by perverts.

"Whatever," said Ichigo in an irritated tone. "I'm going down for some breakfast. If you have anything useful to say, say it down there." Ichigo didn't even try to look for Rukia. Her spiritual pressure was missing from his closet, which probably meant that she was probably at Urahara's. He shrugged, going down to get some breakfast and go about the rest of his day.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Urahara's Store was a small, out of the way place. The nearby residents liked the man in charged of it, Kisuke Urahara, who was a blonde eccentric. He was kind, funny, smart and a bit of a flirtatious womanizer, and many assumed that the store he poked about with was simply his retirement. In a way the neighbors of Kisuke Urahara were right, but not for the reasons that they thought.

"Ah, Miss Kuchiki, welcome," he said, overly happy dispite it being so early in the morning.

"Can it, Urahara," came the sharp tongue soul reaper's reply. "I knew you'd be up early because of the message you sent over my soul page. So what do you want?"

"Now now, Ms. Kuchiki. I wouldn't want a valued customer such as yourself to get angry. Why don't you go get a little of shopping done before we get down to business."

Rukia sighed. Urahara was well known for being oblique, preferring to manipulate the situation. Of course, that came as no surprise when one considered the fact that Urahara was an exile. "Please tell me that you at least have Chappy…"

"Sorry," Urahara replied. "Chappy is still the most popular one, and Soul Society gets it first."

"Well it figures," she said, more then a litte disgruntled. She knew what was in here, and his stock seldom changed. A few different kinds of candies and dried fruit, some strange looking biological components in jars that looked like they came from Squadron 12, and a few other curiosities that were interesting on a shelf but not something a Soul Reaper would need, much less actually want.

"Your stock never changes," Rukia said, picking out a few pieces of candy and giving them to Urahara. "Now that should satisfy the charade that you're a businessman."

Urahara smiled at her. "Of course," he said, totaling the purchase up on his small calculator. "That'll be 732 yen."

Rukia grumbled, taking out her small purse and pulling out the appropriate currency. "I'm glad to be of service. Now, does your gigai to have a checkup? My rates are very good for female customers."

That earned him a bag to the face. "Urahara! Are you going to tell me something I need to know or should I just go on to school were I can keep an eye on Ichigo!"

"All right, Rukia," Urahara said, leaning forward a little bit. "Today you'll be getting a new English teacher."

Rukia nodded to Urahara. "That's right. He's suppose to be an American college graduate. Why would that interest you?"

"Because of his spiritual pressure." Urahara said, giving Rukia a slight shiver. She was getting better at reading spiritual pressure, especially since she got out that gigai that was keeping her from regaining her powers. Each person's spiritual pressure was unique, like a finger print, and served as an outward indicator of their soul. Spiritual pressure could also tell a person how powerful another person was, since the more spiritual pressure someone has, the greater the power a person could put into a demon arts spell or a number of other things.

"What's different about his?" she asked.

"It's different. Defiantly stronger then a normal humans. Soul reapers have tended to neglect Western countries such as the European Union and the United States. I've found out in my time here that these countries have employed a number of different spiritually aware people into helping them with their hollow problems, as well as other supernatural phenomena that take place within their borders."

"You think the new English teacher could be one of these people?" Rukia inquired.

Urahara nodded. "I think so. Be careful, Rukia. He could be harmless or even helpful, but he's a new variable in this whole equation. But he's like Ichigo and his friends, only with the consent and power of organizations equal to the power of Central 46 in this world. So be cautious in your dealings with him."

Rukia nodded. "I will. Thank you for this information." And with that, she left.

* * *

Everyone was talking in-between class, passing notes about the various things that have happened over the weekend. The soul reapers were gossiping at one corner of the room, while Ichigo and his friends were in another.

Rukia walked into the classroom, knowing that she was a period late and not particularly careing. "Hey Rukia," Ichigo greeted.

"Ah, good morning Rukia. You look lovely as always," Keigo, the generally accepted class clown, complemented.

"Stop it, Keigo. I'm surprised that you haven't creeped her out yet." Ichigo complained.

"I don't mind," Rukia commented, putting on her modest schoolgirl act. "Although I am a bit embarrassed at the complement."

"Don't be," Mizurio, the baby faced playboy of the group said. "You actually try to do your work and you do look good."

"Oh stop it!" Rukia said in another well performed act of modesty.

At that particular point, the door was kicked in. "Good evening, class!" a person yelled in accented Japanese as it's owner walked into the classroom.

"But it's morning," Tatsuki, a tomboyish teenager, deadpanned.

"Ah, but it's evening somewhere in this great wide world, and that is all that really matters!"

Ichigo groaned. This guy was beginning to sound a lot like his dad.

Rukia, on the other hand, was mildly surprised by the man's appearance. He was clearly almost as tall as Chad was, although not nearly as broad. His skin was unusually pale, his hair a natural shade of dark brown. His eyes were green, something of an oddity in a country were normal was black hair and brown eyes. In fact, he kinda looked like a relative of Urahara, even with a few similar facial features that she had found odd in the first place.

The new teacher made his way around to behind the table in the front of the classroom. "Now, I don't expect you to know English perfectly, but I do expect you to do your best! So, to test the abilities of you, the vaunted products of the Japanese educational system, I'm just going to expect you to write a simple essay."

The class was, needless to say, a little bit shocked. All the usual rituals of introduction had been thrown out the window, and the teacher had instead started writing on the board. Everyone looked up there with interest. What he wrote in English floored Chad, Uryuu, and Orohime, three of the people in the classrooms with a working knowledge of English.

_Many philosophies and religions think of hell as a fiery place were the souls of the wicked burn for eternity. Is the reaction that causes this heat endothermic or exothermic? Please explain your answer with supporting evidence._

The class was, once again, floored.

"I hate you…" Uryuu silently muttered, although it seemed booming loud with the way that a pin could drop and everyone could hear it.

The new teacher smiled maliciously. "I'm William Gregory. I come from Indianola, Texas in the United States. I've majored in Computer Science at Sam Houston State University, and am over here to help you kids learn my fine mother tongue and let you actually see a real life, living, breathing six foot tall _foreigner_." He said foreigner somewhat formally, using the full form of the word. "And if all of you do actually try your best and listen, then none of the questions in the rest of this class will seem as difficult as this one."

* * *

Author's note: For those of you who don't know, the words endothermic and exothermic are chemistry terms. Endothermic means that a chemical reaction absorbs heat. Exothermic means that a chemical reaction releases heat.

The city of Indianola, Texas was at one time a thriving port town. However, after the 1901 hurricane it was abandoned and Houston became the major port of Texas. Parts of it are still preserved as state historical sites, and to my knowledge it's still on the registry as an incorporated city. But for all effects and purposes, it's a ghost town.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Rukia and Ichigo were walking down the street, pretty much alone save it be for the occasional pedestrian. This suited them just fine, being away from their friends at this early hour. It meant that they would be able to talk amongst themselves without having to watch their words.

"So the new teacher is a live one, huh?" Ichigo asked.

"I think so. Urahara has also told me that he might be an agent of the American government. I wouldn't know why he would be here in Japan, though."

Ichigo laughed a little bit. "What? I know you don't watch TV, but you don't read the newspaper either?"

"Well maybe if they had something more interesting then the latest scandal, then I would!" she said. "I swear, you humans are just as immature as lower nobles with your gossip."

"It's cause of the hollow attacks," Ichigo said. "Everyone is thinking that they are terrorist bombings. This country doesn't have the experience with dealing with them. America, on the other hand, is fighting an unpopular war and has had multiple major terrorist attacks. The one that happened in 2001 is probably the example that everyone thinks of."

"What happened?" Rukia asked, honestly curious.

"A bunch of middle eastern terrorist hijacked four airplanes. Two of them hit these buildings in New York known as the World Trade Center were a lot of major corporations had their offices. Another one hit their military headquarters. I forgot what it's called, but it was some sort of shape. Americans don't seemed to be too keen on creative names, not that I mind too much.

"About three thousand people died within the span of less then an hour."

Rukia palled at such the large number of people who died that day. Three thousand people. That sort of number was unheard of, except in the great sagas of antiquity. "Why?" she asked.

"From what I heard, the terrorists did it because they thought the Americans were the tools of the devil." Ichigo said. "I think at first the Americans were shocked. Then they got angry. They proceeded to invade the country that the terrorists were based in. After they, they invaded another one which they thought had connections to the first's government."

Rukia blinked again. Traditionally the Seireitei, the government and the upper class of the Soul Society, took a dim view of the conflicts of the mortal world. However, carnage of this scale was not what she expected, especially from her peaceful surroundings.

"So, they invaded the second country because it may of aided the first."

"Something like that," Ichigo said. "My dad's a doctor, and he goes to a lot of conferences. He has a friend who works in the American Army that's based here. The way the guy explained it, the guy in charge of the second country thought that if he showed himself to be enough of a threat and had the weapons the Americans were so concerned about even though he didn't, the Americans would back down. They didn't."

Rukia nodded. She understood this sort of politics and it's effects, having grown up in the lower districts of the Rukongai and educated in the highest courts of the Seretei. "So they're going to march around official looking men, looking like they're addressing the problem, when the real work is quietly being done by their agents."

Ichigo nodded. "Yep. Had enough politics listening to Dad talking about trying to get funding for the clinic for treating his patients from the government, and that sounds about their style."

Rukia and Ichigo continued to walk down the street, before going back to their topic at hand. "So do you really think that our English teacher is that eccentric?" she asked with a bit of a smile, causing Ichigo to blanch.

"I hope not," Ichigo said flatly. "I have enough trouble dealing with goat-face as it is."

"I think he's rather funny, especially after Uryuu translated what he wrote."

Ichigo shook his head a little. "At least he gave us the rest of the class period off."

Rukia nodded. "He kinda reminds me of a Kido instructor I had my first year at Soul Reaper Aca…"

An explosion rocked the area, as both Rukia's soul page and Ichigo's Deputy Soul Reaper badge went off.

"Hollow! Hollow! Hollow!" The badge declared for anyone with enough spiritual pressure to hear.

"There's four of them three quarters of a kilometer down from here," Rukia said as Ichigo pulled out a stuffed lion from his backpack.

"HEY!" The lion yelled. "What's the big idea of waking me up from my nap!"

Ichigo pressed his deputy soul reaper badge aginst the head of the lion, causing a small green pill to pushed through the plush. Ichigo bent down to pick it up, taking care to dust it a little on his uniform before swallowing it. The result was him being pushed out of his body while the soul inside of the pill took residence.

"A little warning next time?" The new soul asked.

Rukia pulled out her own replacement, a duck shaped pez dispenser. She pressed it's head and gulped down the pill, forcing her soul out.

"Watch over our bodies and hit Kon if he does anything fresh." Rukia said to her body.

"Yes sir!" the body in question eagerly replied, saluting the Soul Reapers.

The two soul reapers flash stepped their way away from their now occupied bodies.

"So, you want to do anything?" Kon asked with a smirk, before getting hit in the head by the body of Rukia.

* * *

The two soul reapers ran down the streets. Everything looked normal, until they got a quarter of a kilometer away from the sight of the Hollow attack.

Surprisingly, the area had been cordoned off to the public, police officers redirecting the flow of traffic and trying to keep pedestrians from coming in.

"There's just a natural gas leak up ahead," one of the police officers yelled to the people. "Construction crews are already there to fix it but there's a chance it'll explode so everybody stay back. If you live in this area, find something else to do for the next few hours and we'll try to get this fixed as soon as we can!"

The two made their way past the police. "Well, that's odd," Rukia said.

"Hey. It'll mean that nobody will be there when we have to fight the things." Ichigo said to her, seeing something positive in this. "We don't have to worry about anyone else getting hurt."

"True. But they reacted a little too quickly. It's almost as if they knew…"

The soul reaper and her deputy both heard strange sounds up ahead. To Rukia, it sounded almost as if fireworks were going off.

"Ichigo. Do you hear that?"

"Yeah. Sounds almost like… ah no! Gunfire!"

"Gunfire?" Rukia asked, puzzled, before they turned the corner.

The sight that they saw was something they had never dreamed of seeing. There were six men and women in black suites all holding exquisite guns, inlaid with various symbols and words with gold and silver. They faced down one of the hollows like it was nothing, while the hollow was reeling from their fire, bullets impacting it's mask, chipping away at it.

Another three were carrying swords of various lengths and styles, holding down their own against another of the hollows, which looked to be a giant beetle. They moved quickly, one of them distracting the creature while another two slashed at it's legs, slowly crippling it.

The third was the English teacher, holding in his hand a wicked blade. The hilt was not like that of a Japanese sword, looking to be more like that of a European long sword. The blade was curved, going down about half a meter before jutting forwards, the rest of it curving like it was for another half meter.

"Where in the world is White?!" he yelled as they continued fending off the hollows. Another one jumped from the rooftops, land besides him and thrusting it's arm at him. The teacher dodged the attack from the hollow that he was originally fighting, holding his sword up to absorb the attack. It sent him across the street, right to the feet of the two soul reapers.

"Mr. Gregory?" Rukia asked.

"Wait, ah no." he said, realizing who the two of them were. He scrambled up, holding his sword at the ready. His suite looked dusty, but somehow not battered by the fall. "Stay here!" he yelled, going back into the fray.

Ichigo, of course, couldn't stand the idea of being bossed around. "Why you…" he grumbled, unsheathing his zanpakto. He flashed stepped forward, cutting the open the mask of the Hollow.

"What are you doing?!" Gregory yelled.

"I'm helping you!" Ichigo replied. "Where's the fourth one?"

"I don't know!" Gregory yelled back, before he caught sight of something.

"Everyone get down!" He yelled in English, jumping onto the ground. Everyone else complied, as Ichigo noticed a shape on the roof.

After that he was blinded. A stream of white hot plasma hit the hollow that went missing, disintegrating it easily. The shockwave from the meeting of spirit particles with the supercharged matter was strong, throwing Ichigo across the street and into the wall.

Rukia, on the other hand, was smart enough to go down when she saw that everyone else was. She looked up at what she thought was the source, rewarded with the sight of a small black woman holding a very large gun. Hollows were scattered across the street, yelling out in pain.

The woman had a huge grin on her face as she swung the gun around to take aim at the one that the other agents had previously shooting, only to be disappointed as it was already disintegrating. She then focused on the third one, the disabled beetle, before firing the thing again. Again, Rukia covered her head as the woman fired again, effectively ending the hollow's existence.

"Clear!" The little black woman yelled out in English.

"What do think you were doing, White?!" Gregory yelled to the little woman on the roof. "You've caused property damage and made it look like the gates of Hell themselves were opening! How are we going to explain that to the civies?!"

"You're problem, not mine," she said, hefting up the plasma gun on her shoulders before jumping down from the roof with ease. The thing was about as large as she was, and it would of looked somewhat commicle to the other agents save it be she could probably kill them in an instant. "At least we know your little toy gun works properly now."

Gregory sighed. "I suppose you're right," he said, before looking at the other agents. "Dispatch a cleanup team and a medic." He said, before turning to look at Ichigo. Rukia was already at his side, quietly using her kido to help heal the unconscious youth.

"How's he doing?" the teacher asked, switching back into Japanese.

"He's blind and has a concussion, but otherwise fine. I should be able to heal him, but it'll take a lot out of me." She replied, before looking up at him, still channeling the healing spiritual energy. "Who are you?"

The man just smirked. "I'm just a humble English teacher over here on exchange."

Rukia scowled. "And I'm a well meaning Japanese school student who happens to make horrible grades," she replied, with a little bite to her comment. "Who are you, really?"

"That is a question with a lengthy and convoluted answer," he said somewhat ominiously, before turning around to direct the relief effort.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

* * *

Rukia quietly looked in on the waiting room. Isshin Kurosaki was showing the true professionalism of his trade, quietly examining his son's eyes without any wise cracks. She was impressed by the elder Kurosaki's attentiveness on the job, especially when her normal exposure to him consisted of him being the over eager and eccentric patriarch of the family.

"Hmm…" he said quietly. "Looks like you suffered some form of flash blindness. Happens to welders sometimes when they forget to put on protective eye gear. What exactly were you doing?"

"I was passing by a construction site on the way home, since me and my friends were going to hang out at a new restaurant." Ichigo said, sticking to the story that they made up in order to cover for the unexpected injury. "I just happened to look up at the wrong time, I guess."

"I see," the elder Kurosaki said, a suspicious smirk on his face. "Just you and Rukia, walking alone, huh?"

"Nothing happened," the younger Kurosaki replied flatly.

"Sure," Isshin said, with a broad smile on his face. "Oh Misaki, soon Ichigo and Rukia will finally admit their love for one another and we'll have GRANDCHILDREN!"

The pronouncement earned the doctor a pillow to the head, and a bright flush from Rukia. She didn't really think of Ichigo in that way, view him mostly as a loyal comrade and friend fighting for the same goal. Of course, what Ichigo thought was rather more a mystery, as he denied the accusation and belittled his father for being a perverted old man. Rukia smirked at this, quietly drifting away to take care of other business.

* * *

Rukia stood in front of the train station, quietly looking at her watch. After the battle, she and Mr. Gregory were in agreement to meet each other at a place were a proper conversation between the two could take place. She, of course, was dressed in her school uniform, being the most formal thing that she could find.

To her mild surprise, Captain Toushiro Hitsugaya was also there, also in a gigai and wearing his own school uniform. "Good afternoon, Captain Hitsugaya."

"Good afternoon, Ms. Kuchiki." Toushiro Histugaya replied.

"So, are you here to talk to the English teacher?" she asked as she stepped aboard the train, taking a seat next to the young, white hair captain.

"Yes, I am." He replied. "This is a force we have not encountered before in Soul Society, and if your report is correct represents one of the major factions in the world of the living. Central 46 hopes to make an appreciable impression on them."

Rukia nodded. "I can understand. But why not send somebody who is older?" the captain's left eye twitched a little bit, showing Rukia his agitation. "Not that you aren't qualified by any means of the imagination, of course," she quickly covered, "But in the living world you do look like a young teenager."

Histugaya made no visible show of emotion, but Rukia was sure that he looking for something appreciable to say. "Your brother was the first choice," he began, "But his squadron was assigned to respond to a minor incursion from Huaco Mundo. Captain Unohana is helping to oversee the annual kido exams at the academy. Captain Soifon is away on assignment, and Captain Amagi is still getting used to the responsibilities of his position. Captain Kyoraku is helping to oversee the new round of recruitment and placement within his own squadron, while Captain Ukitake is having another bout of illness. Although Captain Komamura may be a very good diplomatic choice, his appearance would be sure to cause an uproar in the world of the living. And Captain Zaraki and Mayuri also cannot be entrusted with this mission, for other obvious reasons."

Those reasons, of course, made sense. Zaraki was a battle hungry savage, there was no other way to put it politely. However, he usually does admirably well to restrain himself, even going so far as to restrict his spiritual pressure to reduce the amount of damage he would do when fighting a significantly weaker opponent.

Mayuri, on the other hand, was a psychopath who regularly mutilates his own body and sees everyone, including himself, as potential test subjects. He made himself too valuable to sack as head of 12th division and research and development, producing far too many results to get rid of him easily. However, nothing short of Armageddon would allow for him to be unleashed upon the world of the living.

"I see," she said. "So, you know where we are going, then?"

"If the information is correct," Hitsugaya began, "we will be going to a military instillation specializing in aircraft, owned by the power in question. Other then that, information is scarce. When the stealth force attempted to infiltrate, they were responded to by an unusual number of spiritually aware humans and were forced to withdraw or compromise the mission."

That made Rukia's nerves stand on end. Normally the stealth force was enough to gain any information on the world of the living. The fact that the Americans seemed to posses so many spiritually aware humans was a testament to the strength of their organization. Of course, they could have been placed their in anticipation of the Soul Society's diplomat, but even then the consequences of that were not anything that she would of liked to face lightly.

The rest of the train ride was uneventful as they made their way to the other side of Tokyo. Rukia was sure to catch up on news from the Soul Society, including the possibility of Renji advancing to captaincy. Of course, the same was said for all the lieutenants, and even then their position didn't guarantee anything, as the placement of Captain Amagi had shown.

All too soon, the train stopped at the station and the two got off, making their way to the military base where Mr. Gregory had asked the two of them to meet him. At first, it didn't look like much to Rukia. It just seemed like another airport, similar to the one she visited when the Kurosaki family went on vacation in Hawaii.

That illusion, of course, was shattered as several jet fighters screamed overhead, taking off to parts unknown. Then it became clear that this was a military instillation.

"Well, I thought we were bad about sending kids to war," a feminine voice said in badly accented Japanese.

Rukia looked up to see the voice's owner, the same small black woman who blinded Ichigo. This time, however, she was wearing a blue uniform, with a nametag in a language she couldn't read over her right pocket, and ribbons that probably meant something to these people over her left. On her shoulders were blue epaulets, a yellow bar at the end of each of them.

"Lt. White, please don't make this more difficult on them then it already is," Gregory said, standing besides the diminutive woman. He was in a fresh black suite, his sunglasses reflecting their image and the sun quite effectively. She couldn't read his facial expression easily, which made her feel slightly uneasy.

"Hey, I'm just saying Gregory, they sure do look small for their nation's finest."

Hitsugaya seemed to twitch, obviously being made a mockery of by the ill mannered lieutenant. Gregory seemed to pick up on this, waving the two Soul Reapers after him. "This way to the debriefing," he said, leading them on. "And don't mind White. She's just angry because she's not getting paid as much as me."

"Fat chance," White replied, falling into step behind the two Soul Reapers as Gregory lead them on. Yet dispite the light conversation that Gregory engaged Hitsugaya in, and the banter exchanged between the two Americans occasionally, Rukia felt ill at ease. There was more to this then either seemed to be letting on, and she wanted to know exactly what it was.


End file.
